Two years ago this
month, I was among a bunch of cocky newspaper and magazine photographers
who found ourselves in Norman, Oklahoma getting the "still" kicked out
of our photojournalistic consciousness. We were at the first NPPA Platypus
workshop, searching for new ways to tell stories. Maybe video was the
answer.

It was an exciting
two weeks. There were many long days fumbling with new digital video
cameras and late nights trying to edit the mismatch of moving pictures
we produced into a 2-minute story. It was a humbling experience. Retooling
one's brain from still photography to videojouralism wasn't easy and
we all had headaches to prove it.

But we were an enthusiastic
group. There were stories to be told and we were assured there were
all kinds of outlets in the TV world looking for our mix of stills,
video, and thoughtful narratives.

We left Norman ready
to kick ass. I returned to the Republic of Montana and depleted my bank
account on new digital gear in order to add the videojournalism component
to my long-term project of documenting the relationship between humans
and wildlife in the northern Rockies.

I dove right into
the TV world. In the process, rather than kicking ass, I got my platypus
butt kicked from New York to Burbank and back again. How was I to know
that as I was spending money on equipment, tape, and time in the field
the networks and cable channels were slashing budgets and replacing
thoughtful programming with inexpensive filler. I should have had one
eye in the viewfinder and other on Wall Street.

Nevertheless I have
had some success. Thanks to Rolf Behrens we co-produced a Nightline
piece. Along with my magazine work for Time I've managed to produce
a number of segments for CNN and a Dateline/Discovery story. This month
I start working with the new National Geographic Channel news show "NG
Today".

I'm glad I embraced
the new technology. Video has kept my project alive. But it's a cruel
world out there in TV land. Believe it or not, the budget cuts in TV
news and factual programming makes the bleak magazine business look
good in comparison.

After a couple of
years in the trenches here are my personal Top 10 reality checks for
working with DV in the real world:

1 - EMBRACING
DV IS NOT A CAREER CHANGE - Buying a DV camera and learning how
to use it can augment your photojournalism but it won't give you a new
job as a documentary filmmaker. A newspaper photographer who can shoot
video might get some longer assignments if the paper wants to run video
on the web. Magazine photogs who shoot DV might be able to collaborate
with various TV programs to help produce a show that corresponds to
your still project.

Keep in mind that
four years ago using DV was unique. Today there are thousands of budding
filmmakers buying cameras and taking workshops. The networks discovered
DV cameras a couple of years ago and have been turning them over to
their own union shooters with great success.

2 - MORE PLACES
TO WORK FOR LESS -The use of DV in TV production has enabled more
to be shot for less. Some program budgets are based on the fact that
they can get young shooters using DV cameras to work for as low as $300
per day including the DV camera package. They don't pay extra for quality.
So the days and days you spend on your project getting a great narrative
might not be financially rewarded when you license the program to a
show that has a budget based on $300 a day for camera work.

3 - YOU WON'T
WORK FOR THE NETWORKS - Forget the idea of selling yourself and
your DV gear as a daily hire camera package to networks for big bucks.
Consumer DV is not as good as Beta and they know it. Network camera
packages require a high-end Beta camera and a lot of quality audio plus
an experienced shooter. Daily hire for a shooter is governed by NABET
union rules. If you have a professional DVCAM or DVPRO rig you might
find yourself doing some network daily hire. Under union rules you can
shoot 20 days before you have to join the union.

Don't think of yourself
as a camera package. Shoot for your own project. But if you are working
on something that has news or news magazine value get to know the network
producer working on the same story. You might be able to "license" some
tape to a network show. They may only be able to pay $300 for use of
few seconds of tape but that gives you more bucks to pour down the videojournalism
rat hole.

4 - YOU CAN'T
DO IT YOURSELF - When I took the platypus workshop there was all
this talk about personal vision and retaining one's own authorship no
matter what the cost. I quickly found that nobody in the TV world cared
about my personal vision. They liked the story ideas and they wanted
to "collaborate" to produce segments that fit into their shows.

I found these collaborations
to be quite pleasant and a good learning experience. When Behrens and
I did the Nightline story on the Yellowstone bison they wanted us to
work with a correspondent because the story needed a strong reporter's
voice. Chris Bury and producer Dan Green flew out to Montana. They were
great to work with and helped us tell a good story. Quite frankly I
couldn't have done it without the help of Rolf both as a producer and
a shooter. I didn't have the experience.

At CNN and Dateline/Discovery
I work with a producer and an editor and we go back and forth on the
script and the content. They know what they are doing and usually they
make the story better.

When it comes to
looking to produce a show for one of the cable channels like Discovery
or National Geographic you will need to align yourself with a well established
production company that has a good track record and the resources to
produce a show for TV. This also goes for PBS and all the other networks.

There are a few
cables channels out there that will take something offline right from
Final Cut Pro but the more established channels require a final online
production on an Avid Symphony or Media 100. Those setups cost about
$450 an hour.

5 - BE A PRODUCER
- As a one-man band you have to be the producer, reporter, and the shooter.
As a producer you have to look at the whole project. What is the story?
How much will it cost to shoot? You have to collect the reporting you
need to back up the facts in your story. If you say in your script "250
people have died of AIDS in this village alone" then you better have
documentation to prove it. For non-news shows you need release forms
for everything - people and locations.

You need to remind
yourself to get certain shots so you can build sequences. One trick
I learned in producing my own shows is to get a three ring binder and
put all you production material in it. It becomes your production manual.
Make a chart of key shots you have and then shots that you need. If
you did an interview in an old house make sure to note that you want
an exterior of the house and maybe a motivated pan from the street to
the house. Check off the shots as you do them.

Once or twice a
day put your camera down, grab some coffee, and be a producer. Clip
some news items from the local paper that will back up your facts, get
the model releases, and go over your shot list.

When you try to
pitch your project don't say you are a videojournalist. The sad fact
is that although it is the great camera work that makes a show, the
producers carry all the weight. If you are leaving a message, introduce
yourself as a producer with the "John Doe" project. If that doesn't
work try Executive Producer and if that doesn't work become the Senior
Executive Producer!

6 - HARD NEWS
STORIES DON'T WORK FOR CABLE - You might find yourself covering
an extended hard news story. You shoot a lot of cool stuff and think
that you have enough for a half hour TV show. Well, who is going to
buy the show? Probably nobody. Cable channels don't want shows that
are too issue related and dated. They say it depresses the viewers and
scares away advertisers.

Look for the little
story that tells the big story. A father, a doctor, a volunteer-someone
that can take you on a journey through the event that is making news
and stay with them after the satellite trucks leave. You might have
a story about a person that triumphs over a major disaster that will
make an interesting half hour show.

If you are working
on a story and there are killer pets in the neighborhood, well, you
know what to do. Call Fox and get a commission.

7 - YOU WON'T
MAKE ANY MONEY - Not right away unless you know a lot of killer
pets. Maybe in the long run you might make enough to pay for your camera
and computer but by then they will be obsolete. A few platypi will score.
They most likely will be working in Europe where there is more of an
appetite for issue related programs, on foreign projects where regular
news crews fear to tread or in out-of-the-way places like Montana where
large animals with big teeth threaten yuppie families and their golden
retrievers.

Look at your project,
whatever it is, as a labor of love. It doesn't have to be on national
TV to be a success. It could be for a not-for-profit or a community
project. You might find the video work you produce within your own community,
distributed on VHS and shown on a public access or local PBS, is worth
more than any network or cable TV show. Not really but it will make
you feel better.

8 - BROADBAND
INTERNET - Hey Dirck- We are waiting, waiting, waiting! When it
does come there will be so many videojournalists out there that all
internet programming will be produced for free as a form of self expression.

9 - AUDIO
- I can't begin to tell you how important good clean audio is to video.
My biggest mistakes have been thinking the on-camera microphone would
work just fine.

Go into every situation
listening as well as looking. Put a wireless on your subject for good
clean Sound-On-Tape (SOT). Stick a wireless somewhere in a room where
there is good natural (NAT) sound.

The problem with
the small DV cameras, even the XL-1, is it is hard to control and acquire
really good audio. That's why the networks still use Betacams. I often
find myself lugging around my big DSR-300 just because I want to use
the audio features. You can get good audio with the consumer DV cameras
but you will have to work at it. Audio can make or break a video project.

10 - OUR VIDEO
SUCKS - Sorry, but it's true. It takes a long time to become a really
good video shooter. Coming from a still background we have an excellent
start with a feel for composition. Our journalism skills can help us
be in the right place at the right time. But shooting great video takes
a lot of practice and a lot of thought. Our video will have it's moments
but at the end of the day it is what we didn't shoot that shows just
how good we are.

I have the privilege
of working with a great editor at CNN. He is a patient and pleasant
guy. I get nice emails with questions like "Was there another tape with
some wide shots?" Once I thought it would be really creative to shoot
an important interview in a 60-Minutes style. Really tight on the face.
It didn't occur to me that the title fonts for her name would end up
looking like a piece of gaffer tape across her mouth. I got a not so
nice email from the executive producer on that one.

If you watch someone
like Darrell Barton or Rolf Behrens they are as one with their video
cameras as we are with our Leicas. They motivate pans, they automatically
get action-reaction and close-ups. Sometimes they do it on one 30-minute
tape.

When it comes time
to edit they have produced all the material an editor needs to put together
a good story. Plapti, on the other hand, tend to produce tens of hours
of exuberant cinema verite that drive editors crazy. Our shooting ratio
is usually 10 to 1 rather than a professional's 3 to 1.

So we have to practice.
Go into a simple situation at home with camera rolling. Happy wife or
husband feeding the dog is a good practice session. The dog is excited.
Why? CLOSE-UP of a $4 can of gourmet dog food. Cheerful husband /wife.
SOT "Oh, you're such a good boy." Go to where it's not - an empty bowl.
Food scooped out of can. Wide shot of wife/husband over dog bowl. SOT
"Wait, wait. OK." MEDIUM-SHOT - waggling tail. Etc, etc. Practice this
day after day until the dog is big and fat and your wife or husband
is not so cheerful anymore. Get it down so you get 15 ten-second shots
that you can sequence.

Remember the more
we shoot the better we get and the better we get the more frustrated
we get. It's a vicious circle. Just like working as a still photojournalist.

As a producer I
now have to write a budget for a 6-minute TV segment. The first thing
I'll do is screw the cameraman (me) and then nickel and dime the reporter/researcher
(my wife) hoping that in the end there will be enough left to feed the
president of our production company (our dog).